Well, I made it this far - (New Blog Chapter)

[Pork Chop]

Well I finally made it to Texas.
It's been kind of a rocky road, but I'm happy about my prospects.
The last month or 2 has been a lot of eating, a lot of drinking, and even some smokin.
I'm about as out of shape as I have been the last few years.
I think I'm pushing 245+ right now.
I finally found a new kickboxin gym last week and I think I'm finally ready to start over again.
My goal, as always, is to lose weight and fight.
My plans for this are 3 fold: skills, fitness, and diet.

Skills
I started with a new thai gym. the guy really seems to know his stuff. i've gotten a lot of correction in the few classes i've been there. i'm a little worried coz it's really hard to get out of work to make it in time for the workout. I'm still trying to hit this class up 2 to 3 times a week for now. Eventually I'd like to make it there Tuesday through Saturday. At the moment i'm only going for an hour or 2 at a time, eventually I'd like to increase that as well, going for possibly 3 to 4 hours a day.

Fitness
I've got a great fitness center and jogging trail right outside my front door. It's so convenient i really should've made it more before now. My fitness goal is to lose fat & get my cardio back up. I'm going to do that 3 ways: jogging, sprint work, and weights. Ideally I'll jog twice a week, sprint twice a week, and lift 3 times a week. I'm trying to start slow, which means 2 to 3 weight sessions a week, 1 or 2 jogging sessions, and if i still can- 1 or 2 sprint sessions a week.

for weights I'm using the general fitness workout in Bill Pearl's getting stronger. I think it's a good primer for breaking back into weights. Basically, after 6 months, i should be able to jump into a more serious program. It's broken up into 3, 8-week levels. The first level is 15 to 20 reps each set, 1 to 3 sets each exercise, and a nice fullbody mix of exercises. The first day (today) had me suprisingly beat. At first glance the workout may seem a lil soft, but it's really good for someone like me who's worried about overdoing it.

for jogging I'm using the trail by my house. The distance is between 3 and 4 miles. It's a pretty easy jog; it's just hard to do coz my dog can't/won't do it with me, so i end up leaving him home. For the beginning time I think I'll be happy with 1 definite jog a week.

for sprinting, coach recommends 20 10-second sprints. I may make that closer to 20 second sprints to get it more in line with tabata's. my gym's got a versa climber for this. I will probably also use the elliptical crosstrainer.

Diet
Okay i hate dieting. I love to eat. If I don't eat what I wanna, much of the joy of my life just goes away. yeah, i'm a fat b@stard, so what? I think one way I can improve my situation is looking at certain foods as "supplements"; ie that there are certain foods that I should eat every day. My list of supplements are as follows:
1 bowl oatmeal
1 cup of yogurt
1 salad
2~3 pieces of fruit
I figure after eating that, I'll be hungry for whatever protein I can get.

[Pork Chop]

Day 1 on the plan:

diet went okay. I ate small to medium sized meals frequently throughout the day. Met my fruit quota, but no oatmeal or salad. Also i forgot to add "1 40g protein shake" to the list of requirements, specifically for days I lift. Wing Stop Boneless wings are REALLY good, not too much batter and their sauces are teh roxxors.

Like I said, I've had a hard time getting out of work by 4:30 in order to go to the kickboxing gym for their 5pm level 1 course. Yesterday, even the 6 o'clock level 2 course wasn't feasible.

Instead, I went home, busted out my "Getting stronger" book by Bill Pearl, and took his intro workout. See, "Getting Stronger"'s a good starter book for getting into lifting as well as beginning sport-specific weight training. I use Arnold's Encyclopedia mainly as reference- i mean his "beginner" program is a 6-day-a-week lifting schedule.

I cruised up to the gym by 6:30.
Warmed up on the elliptical cross trainer for 5 minutes doing a faster-than-normal clip.
My big emphasis right now is on getting in there, but not pushing too hard, coz my body's just not ready yet.

After that it was on to the lifting.
The routine was 1 set of each exercise, and 15 to 20 reps: like I said, a starter program.

• Dumbell swings: 40lbs, 20 reps - not too easy, not too hard, nice start
• Incline Situps: 20 reps - relatively easy
• Bend and touch opposite foot w/ dumbell: 25lbs, 20 reps - easy
• Barbell Lunges: olympic bar, 15 double reps (each leg done separately) - ow
• Bench Press: 95lbs, 20 reps - this was pathetically easy
• Upright Row: ez curl + 40lbs, 20 reps - medium effort
• Assisted Pullups: 140lb assist, 15 reps - I can do 10 reps with a lot less assist, but this really hurt.
• Standing Dumbell Tricep Extension: 40lbs, 20 reps - medium effort
• Barbell Curl: ez bar + 20lbs, 20 reps - medium effort
• Pushups: 20 reps - my elbow was feeling tweaked doing this one

I was hurtin by the time I walked out of the gym. I coulda sworn I was supposed to do some deadlifts, maybe i skipped it when i was writing down the program, I definitely wasn't missing it as I got in my car.

After that, I went home, got some food, worked on my linux box a bit, and got to bed bout an hour later than I wanted- coz the linux box was givin me headaches.

As I write this I realize how much I miss my gf- not for the usual reasons of wanting someone to help with the dog and to share the housework with; but I really miss her company and hangin out with her. She'll be moving here in 2 weeks or less, so things will get better. I think this has been a good experience for me; I realize what I want, I probly appreciate her a lot more, I tried "playing the field", but at the same time I didn't screw anything up, and I got some of my doubts outta my system.

[Chief Fox]

Sounds like you're getting back into it. That's great. I see in your goals that you mention increasig cardio and burning fat. So I have only 1 recommendation.

Once a week I do a timed workout.
One round consists of, a 500 meter row, 20 box jumps and 20 push presses. I do 4 rounds. I'm pretty much breathing really hard and almost dying by the end so much that I have to lie down on the ground for a few minutes.

Here's the beauty part of this workout. Because it's timed I can gauge my progress.
For example: when I first started doing this work out I could only do three rounds. I would finish in about 17 minutes or so. After a few weeks, the time for 3 rounds came down to about 14 minutes so I added another round. Last week I did 4 rounds in 19:24. Today I did the same 4 rounds in 18:25. Now I'm thinkning about adding another exercise in another couple of weeks.

This type of workout is quick and is a great measure of progress. So my recommendation is select three different types of exercises and create a workout like this to test your fitness level every so often. Maybe something like 3 rounds of a 1/4 mile on the eliptical, 20 dumbell swings and 20 air squats.

Just a suggestion. It sounds like you're off to a great start. Keep it up.

[Pork Chop]

hey thanx I'll start doing the modified version of your 3 round thing you suggested on sundays. Will try to do frog jumps instead of just plain squats.

Day 2 of this blog.

Breakfast went well.
My salad wasn't looking good so i kinda skipped it.
I think I'm going ot have to buy salads from work if i'm going to eat them, going with the prepackaged salads is really not working- they're inconvenient without a fridge and look pretty nasty after a day or 2.

for lunch i had a big lunch of brisket and chopped beef. Probly a bad idea but i was craving the protein.

I did manage to get sore after yesterday's workout, hobbling a lil today. I don't think a day beween workouts is too much to ask; or doing too little rather.

Made it to the kickboxing gym. I was tired before I even got there. My body was aching from yesterday's trip to the gym and i was suffering my late afternoon sleepiness. Ideally I would probably take a nap from 3 to 5 and then get on with my day, but i doubt i could work that in.

The workout was hard. I pushed it as hard as I could. Got the nice familiar burn in the gut of lunch from 5 hours earlier threatening to come up.

Afterwards i was sitting, but that was a bit cramped and hot, so i laid down. The ceiling fan was feeling good. A few minutes later, I sat up to join in on some discussion that was going on and puked. Luckily it just filled up my mouth, so i was able to make it to the bathroom. It was real weird to have that happen a good 10 to 15 minutes after I'd stopped working out.

I'm wondering if the reason I'm having so much trouble getting back in shape this time around is due to the heat? All the extra flab can't be helping my body cool itself off. None of the gyms I've worked out at have been particularly cool, both opting for fans instead of AC. Tonite I couldn't go home from the gym for a good 30 ~ 45 min. Everytime I stood up or even sat up straight I got dizzy and nauseous.

I still feel a lil nauseous writing this, 2+ hours later.

I decided not to head back for another weight workout today so that i don't risk overdoing it too early. I'm still kicking around the idea of a jog; but doubt that'll happen either. Kinda feel like my body's sayin "hey, save that motivation for tomorrow- make it a constant habit and eventually it'll get easier".

So I'm gonna hit up kickboxin tomorrow.
fitness gym's only open till 8 on fridays, though a jog might not be a bad idea.
saturday i can hit a kickboxing workout at 11 and then rest up to hit the fitness gym in the afternoon; followed by a fitness test on sunday.

Feel weird. Have this feeling i should eat, but still feel pretty nauseous. I need to invest in some gatorade.

[viper]

I love thai pads its great workout man get in there doin great work good to see someone says im doin it and actually does it.

[Pork Chop]

thanks for the encouragement viper

wish i had better news to report.

friday i could barely walk.

i think it was the lunges- my hamstrings and glutes were shredded.
my buddy from work also helped me fix my car after work.
Long story short, i didn't work out friday.

this morning (saturday) my dog had a grooming appointment.
i dropped him off real early- around 8:45.
Workout was supposed to be at 11.
got breakfast and got home around 9:45.
at that point my legs were still hurting a lil (much less than friday but they still hurt even now) and i was just tired from goofin off too much friday night.

diet's been crud

I do have some good news... no i didn't save a bunch of money on my car insurance... my gf quit her job and is en route to moving down here to texas.
i'm finding i have a hard time knowing what to do with myself when she's not around. i get bored and lonely all the time and go do stupid stuff.

Arnold said something in his encyclopedia of bodybuilding that setbacks can be a good thing because they define our limitations. I think this early failure will steel my resolve a bit. with my gf here i can't help but think that it'll get easier from here on out- even if my body's not really cooperating; coz she'll keep me grounded.

Next weeks' gonna be better.

[viper]

there was a time i did couple hundred hindu squats and i couldn walk for three days my muscles at first just calapsed from fatigue even on the second day after dont sweat it persistance pays off.

[Pork Chop]

Monday May 1

Back at it. Today I brought my gf with me.

Good ole fashioned "warmup" (read sprints) on the elliptical for 10 min.
Didn't break any records, but it went okay. I was sweatin good afterwards.

On the workout- tried not to bump up too much of the weights up too much so my body didn't flip out on me too much:

Dumbell swings 50 pounds, lost count on this one, shoulda been close to 20, was a lil heavy

incline situps - 20

touch opposite foot w/ dumbell - pretty sure 50lbs on this one, 20 reps each side

lunges - just the bar again, 15 double reps each leg, stretched beforehand and took my time during so i didn't have problems walking

bench press- 115lbs (35s) x 20 reps, was suprisingly easy.

vertical row - ezbar + 40 x 20

pullups - 140lb assist, made 18 reps this time. Fixed my grip & felt stronger, still a long way to go.

tricep extensions - 50lb dumbell x 20

barbell curls- ezbar + 40lbs x 20

pushups - 10 on balance board, 10 on the floor. these hurt.

Lil more rest between sets today coz i was helpin my gf do the workout too (with next to no weight of course). I think in general i need to be a bit more conservative with how much i put out. i gotta quit with the mentality of expectations of doing what i used to do. it'll come, it's just going to be slow. The slower I go, the further I'll get coz the more consistant I'll be.

[Pork Chop]

5/2/06
kinda figuring some stuff out as i go now.
after hitting the gym yesterday i'm a lil sore, but not in a bad way.
A HUGE improvement over not being able to walk.
Did the whole "wake up at 5am, get to work by 6:30 so i can get off by 4" thing today. I was draggin the whole day- passing out anytime i sat down longer than 15 to 20 min. At the end of the day i was bushed. I went home and crashed for 3 hours.
I guess I can wake up real early and even work a full day on that early schedule, but it's not really what my body wants. Monday I was almost bouncing off the walls with energy. I had energy the whole day too, not just at the beginning. The only difference (aside from hitting the gym) was that I'd kinda slept in, working from 8:30 to 6:30.
I'm going to try out the later schedule tomorrow and just swing by the gym whenever I get out.
I may not make the 5pm beginner's class, but at least it's something.
Hate being a flake, but it's not like i'm falling apart after having a consistent schedule; i'm having trouble getting going.
Sub sandwiches are working really good for lunch. One 2 or 3 dollar sandwich and i'm saving myself a good 5 or 10 bux each day. Not to mention, it's probably healthier than what i'd order at a restaurant.

[Pork Chop]

Fort Worth had some weather issues last night, the power went out real bad and i went to work real late. I think it was a blessing in disguise.

Again, I wake up after 6 or 7 and viola, all of a sudden i've got energy to carry me through the day and even enough to want to go do something after work (besides sleep). It was kind of the nail in the coffin for trying to get my workday over by 4 so i could hit a 5pm workout. I think I'm just going to have to see what my workout options are at the time that I'm more comfortable working out (6 to 7).

Today at work, I ate okay. It wasn't real good. I ate what I planned to eat, which is a victory in itself. The bad parts were that I ate my meal 2 and meal 3 at the same time (lunch), so lunch was a bit heavier than it should've been. My late day snack was also not all that good for me (carrot cake) eventho I planned it. Dinner was some italian & while it may top every "bad food" list, I ain't gonna stop eating it coz i love it; again it was a leftover meal that i planned to eat today.

The reasons it's important to eat what I plan is so that I don't freak out, spend extra money, and go out to eat. Also, i create a habit that i can gradually tweak to the healthy food i should be eating.

I wrote the "input needed" thread towards the end of work as I realized that I was going to have to find the best 6:30~7pm workout option in order to have any success with this schedule. As I stated in the thread, I've got 3 options: the fitness center I already work out at, the kickboxing gym, or the boxing gym.

Something about "catching the 8 o'clock class at the kickboxin gym" (a Tuesday-Thursday sparring class ) didn't sit right with me. I really had no interest in going to a highly structured class covering material i didn't feel ready for. As a result, I called the boxing gym to see what they've got to offer and set up an appointment for tomorrow to go check it out. Tonight, I just went home, picked up my girl, and went to the fitness center.

Did the old 10 minute sprint workout on the elliptical crosstrainer. Jacked up the resistance toward the end and my calorie output spiked. Prior to that it seemed a lil low. Doesn't really matter, I pushed it hard, i was sweating, and was tired afterwards.

Still doing the General Fitness workout:
Dumbell swings - 50lbs x 20 - pretty intense and tiring
Incline situps - 20
Touch Opposite Toe with dumbell - 50lbs x 20 - would get sloppy if i upped weight
Lunges - Oly Bar x 15 double reps each leg - don't think this'll ever get easier
Bench - 135 (2 45s) x 20 - i like this one, it was doable, but should do at least two more times before increasing weight
Vertical Row - Ez Curl + 40lbs x 20 - pretty easy
Assisted Pullup - 140lb assist x 20 - happy to finally make full 20 reps!!!
Tricep Extension - 50lb x 20 - some of the final ones were sloppy, wrist & shoulders giving me problems
Barbell curl - Ez Curl + 40lbs x 20 - not too bad, but a bit tiring
Pushups - 10 on step platform, 10 on knees - was burnt by this point

The plan for the fitness workout is to hit it maybe 1 more time this week and next week add another set or 2 to a few of the exercises. I'm a bit leary about trying to do multiple 15+ rep sets of the same exercise though, so we'll play it by ear. I may do a 20, 15, 10 kinda thing if the exercise is particularly easy; or just jump to level 2 after 4 weeks instead of 8. After level 2 I can get into more fun routines- either doing sport-specific training, or tackling Bill Pearl's 20 month program.

The gym's the most fun i'm having working out, coz i actually feel like i'm making progress instead of just overdoing it.




Was reading t-nation forums today and picked up some good quotes that reverberate with me:

"We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training"

"Don't let your ego get in the way of your progress"

" Every time you stay out late...
Every time you sleep in...
Every time you miss a workout...
You make it that much easier
for me to beat you." - Ironsport Gym's slogan

"Somewhere out there, a little Chinese girl is warming up with your max."
-Jim Conroy, Olympic weightlifting coach.

"Resistance is but an obstacle the must be overcome."
--Robert MacIntyre

"To become strong, one must first NEED to become strong." Friedrich Nietzsche

"When you doubt yourself, it is like joining your enemy's army." Alexandre Dumas

"Evolution does not happen unless there is conflict that spurs change. Continually go without challenging yourself and one day you'll wake up to find yourself extinct." Anonymous

"The only easy day was yesterday"
taken from the Navy SEALS

"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do... the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
-General George S. Patton

"I've struggled through countless nights just to get to this point ... and you're in my way." -Berserker

"Tried. Failed. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better."

"Determination: What will you do..when your body screams stop?
Discipline: That which divides those who will....from those who can.
Focus: To conquer the body, you must first conquer the mind.
Failure: The point at which the strong, have just begun.
Leg day: Just when you thought you knew true pain..
The Secret: Insane work ethic, willingness to sacrifice, and an unquenchable desire."

[Pork Chop]

Wow... to think i originally disparaged that boxing gym. hehe

i went to the boxin gym for my appointment. I was a lil downed coz the owner obviously didn't like anything other than boxing- told me not to kick his bags; but no biggie, i need to work on my boxin anyway.

the gym's a sweat shop, like 1 fan, no AC, but boy was it fun. I think I just really enjoy a self-paced workout more than the strict class structure. Even in the classes I was in back east, there was a lot more freedom to self-pace certain drills. i'm not lazy and i know that I can make more consistant progress if i pace myself, especially early on. I'll definitely go back to the kickboxin class later if/when i start to plateau. Part of being successful in fights and sparring is knowing how to pace yourself, so you can stay productive throughout the entirity of the fight; not just going bawlz out the whole time.

Ended up signing up for 3 months at the boxing gym. it's real convenient, the hours are reasonable, the people are friendly, pretty good facilities, and it's on my way home from work. It'll be real easy to combo up the boxing gym with the fitness center as I can hit both en route to home.

My workout was:
3 rounds of jumprope (first round wasn't really a full one, but i was dyin so bad by the 3rd one i wasn't about to stress it)
3 rounds of shadow wearing gloves (they don't really shadow at the kickboxing gym so it was eye opening to see where i was really at with my stuff)
5 rounds of heavybag (used a few different bags here, really tried to sprint out the last 30 seconds of each round)
1 round of bobbing and weaving under the rope (yikes this was rough)
1 round of double end bag (all their dbl end bags were deflated with some sort of duct-taped, jury rigged thing you were supposed to hit instead. was pretty awkward)
1 round of maize bag (their maize bag's filled heavy, so you pay if you mess up- nice)
1 round of abs (2 situps with medicine ball twist, 20 quickjabs with the medicine ball against the wall, 20 situps with medicine ball tosses).

I was pretty dead after that, but i sat around and hung out with one of the assistant coaches for a bit- he had similar eye problems to mine and he was a real cool dude to talk to.

I think the coach's beef with stuff other than boxing is due to the kung fu school behind the gym. I'm sure there's a story there; but not that anxious to pry. I'm sure if the opportunity presents itself to bring up my laptop, sit, and watch fight clips- then i could get him to appreciate muay thai at least.

Good chance of getting some boxing fights through this gym; something about it gave me a good vibe- have a strong feeling that once i'm in shape, i'm going to be splitting my time between all 3 gyms: MWF kickboxin, TThSat boxin&fitness.

[Pork Chop]

Friday i was busy with a lot of other stuff, so i was really plannin on today bein the day.
Woulda had a great day today but the gym was open from 10am to noon, not noon to 2pm like i thought it was. got there, saw it closed and felt like a tool.
Obliques still hurtin so i'll just save it for monday.
Doing some pushups home to do somethin.

Tonite are the mma fights in Fort worth. I'd rather watch the delahoya mayorga fight but i already got my ticket. I'm rootin for Mayorga btw, he fights with a lot of fire and I like that more than guys who go for the decision. I don't really think he's gonna win tho hehe.

[Pork Chop]

Saturday night fell off the wagon a bit at the afterparty for the MMA fights.
Got to meet Cole Miller though, so that was cool.

Sunday I only got out of bed long enough to go pick up some Church's Fried Chicken (strips).

Monday was as close to a perfect day as I've had yet.
Breakfast was meager- just a <200 calorie blueberry muffin w/almonds.
Midmorning (lunch) was good - a smoked turkey sandwich
afternoon snack was meh- some sourdough pretzel bites & a protein shake

after work i went to the boxing gym:
3 rounds of jump rope - was wearing my actual boxing shoes 'coz i forgot my sneakers, jumping rope hurt, by the end my feet were all cramped up

3 rounds of shadow - felt a lil sluggish

5 rounds of various heavybags - went pretty well, was pretty burnt by the last round

1 round of mitt work- this was tough coz i'm a southpaw and can screw up even the best pad holder's rhythm.

1 round of bobbing/weaving under the rope.

1 round of maize bag

1 round of situps with medicine ball

Was hurtin a bit after the workout. My shirt was completely soaked through. Think my weight, with just shorts on, was 248 (which is ridiculously high for me).


Went home and had some gatorade.
A few minutes later i was jumpin back in the car to hit the fitness center.

"Warmed" up on the elliptical crosstrainer.
I really killed myself on this sprint session.
I had a better-than-average performance calorie wise, but pushed about as hard as i ever have.

Weights were tough. I was really startin to fade.

dumbell swings: 50lbs x 20 - i was strong on this one, but man was i tired

incline situps: 20

bend to opposite foot w/dumbell: 50lbs x 20 - just plain tired on this one, plodded through it though

lunges: bar x 10 doubles each leg - this was the worste exercise of the night. I almost didn't even start them because i got real dizzy after the last exercise. I was also seeing stars. Even when I could clear my head long enough to do them, i still had balance problems. A double rep is one forward lunge, one backward lunge, for each rep. I am starting to doubt that 15 doubles is a good number to shoot for. I feel if i stick with 10, i can actually add some weight and start making progress

bench: 135 x 20 - apparently the rest i gave myself during and after the lunges really helped. felt like i caught my second wind. i slowed down a bit by the end of the 20, but it was still very do-able.

vertical row: Ez curl + 50lbs x 20 - this wasn't too hard, but jumping into it quickly after the bench kinda killed the second wind i had going.

assisted pullup: 140lb assist x 20 - again, jumped in a bit quick. Kinda failed on last rep, but still made it. Given the fatigue i was feeling all day, i'm happy with this one. Afterwards I was seein stars again, not quite as dizzy as before, but had to sit down.

dumbell tricep extension: 20lbs x 20 x each arm - things were kinda sloppy with the 50 and i wanted to make sure each arm was getting a good workout and not one arm taking over more than the other so i isolated each arm for this exercise. Once I got the form down, they weren't difficult and I could probably do 25 to 30lbs next time. Did this one seated instead of standing like i had been; which i think forced me to keep better form.

barbell curl: Ez curl bar + 40lbs x 20 - not bad. slowed down a bit into the set but was definitely doable. might want to risk another 10lbs next time out, or time after that.

I was hurtin pretty bad after that- wrist was starting to bug me again after the triceps & barbell, and i decided to do pushups at home.

I went home and got my pushup bars (or as I call them: "the wrist savers") and cranked out 20 reps.

After that I had 1/2 a serving of creatine, a double-portioned protein shake (40g), and finally ate some dinner: 2 dishes- beef with veggies & spicy green cury with chicken & potatoes. Didn't really finish both dishes, ended up mixing them and doing what i could. The curry was a bit too spicy and I exacerbated the situation (as we'll see in a bit).

After eating i crashed on the couch for an hour, sitting up straight as i could manage, watching Mind of Mencia. Come 11:30 i knew i was either going to fall asleep right there on the couch, or i was going to have to get moving, so I put my shoes back on and went for a jog.

Jogging on a relatively full belly of spicy green curry is a bad idea. a REALLY bad idea. I was so bloated i could barely jog. *warning: graphic description* Musta came close to projectile vomiting a good 5 times, and the other end wasn't doin so well either */end description*. I still managed to make a mile and a half. I was sweating like crazy the whole time. I was sweating when i got home too. Sitting in the bathroom i thought i was gonna die.

I took a shower, took my vitamins, checked my email, and tried to go to bed. Don't think I got to bed before 2. I really shoulda slept earlier.

Today, Tuesday, i woke up with a sore throat and runny nose. I really thought I wasn't going to make it to work today. Feeling like I have absolutely no leave to take is a heckuva motivator. Woke up around 7 under my own power, which is pretty nice. Still gotta hit the hay early tonite. I like the idea of adding a light jog every evening (hopefully not too soon after eating); want to see if i can establish the habit.

[Pork Chop]

the last few days have been kind of a blur. i came down with something HARD. it's in my head and chest. today i'm still sneezing a little; but in general my nose has slowed down a bit, i'm mostly just painfully hacking up grape-sized phlegm ballz. hurts but i still feel better than yesterday. hopin that i can go back to work (and maybe the gym) tomorrow (friday).

[Pork Chop]

Okay friday i was actually somewhat clear headed. I went into work for a half a day, so i didn't have to keep takin all this leave I don't have.
By the end of the day my voice was all broken, I was coughing up a lung, was getting dizzy, and the head cold felt like it was back. After a rough drive home I just stayed there and just kinda laid low for a bit.

Today, saturday, I woke up early enough to hit the gym for a morning workout before my parents drove up from houston. I tried to take one deep breath and the tightness of my chest was painful. I been coughing up more stuff all day. a good "sweat it out" workout would be nice, but i'm sure i'd end up with bronchitis.

At this rate of improvement though i should be back in the swing of things by monday.

happy mother's day everyone.